The Basque Mountain Horse (Spanish: Caballo de Monte del País Vasco, Basque: Euskal Herriko Mendiko Zaldia) is a breed of horse from the Basque Country of Spain and France. It is listed in the Catálogo Oficial de Razas de Ganado de España, the official catalogue of livestock breeds of Spain, in the group of autochthonous breeds in danger of extinction. The original breed standard of the “Euskal Herriko Mendiko Zaldia / Caballo de Monte del País Vasco”, officially approved on 21 July 1999 and published in the Boletín Oficial del País Vasco, the official bulletin of the Basque Country, was repealed in 2015 and replaced with a new one.
At the end of 2013 the total number of breeding animals recorded in the herdbook was 4556.
Pottok
The Pottok or Pottoka is an endangered, semi-feral breed of pony native to the Pyrenees of the Basque Country in France and Spain.
It is considered an ancient breed of horse, particularly well adapted to the harsh mountain areas it traditionally inhabits.
Once common, it is endangered through habitat loss, mechanization and crossbreeding but efforts are increasingly made to safeguard the future of this breed. It is considered iconic by the Basque people.
Pottoka is the Basque language name for this horse, both north and south of the mountains. In Upper Navarrese, potto and pottoka are generic terms for colts and young horses whereas in Lapurdian and Lower Navarrese the meaning of pottoka is “pony”. Ultimately the name is linked to words such as pottolo “chubby, tubby”.
In French sources, the spelling Pottok predominates. In English, both Pottoka and Pottok are encountered but the term Basque Pony can occasionally also be encountered.
Its traditional range extends west as far as the Biscayan Encartaciones and east roughly as far as the Saint-Jean-le-Vieux area. A census carried out in 1970 found roughly 3.500 purebred Pottoks north of the Pyrenees and approximately 2.000 purebreds to the south, a considerable drop from historic populations, linked to an overall drop in the number of horses being bred and used commercially. Competition with sheep and more recently commercial forestry has also infringed on the Pottok’s natural habitat.
The traditional core habitat is the mountains of Labourd and Navarre from about 1.500m upwards, generally on poor acidic soil and limestone formations.